This year, doing the business of the People's House was, at best, a struggle. It's well-known that 2013 was, legislatively, the least productive session in congressional history. Leaders strained to get to 218 — a majority in the 435-seat House (in case you had no idea where the blog name came from). And there were some pretty notable news stories as a result of all this congressional dysfunction.

But as painful as the year was for members, covering the House was a pleasure, one which we here at 218 only had the honor of doing for about half the year.

In that short time, 218 — or "Goppers," as we were formerly known, which rhymes with "Whoppers," for all you still wondering about that — had more than a few favorite stories.

We also had a few favorite profiles this year: Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., on the art of whipping; Rules Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, who told us everything Republicans do in the House should be aimed at taking back the Senate; American Enterprise Institute President Arthur Brooks, who told us about his visit with the Dalai Lama and his plan to lead the "new right"; and the enigmatic Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., who spoke from the heart about, among other things, his own grandfather's suicide.

But one of the more interesting stories of the year was from the very beginning of January, back before there was a Roll Call House blog, when Speaker John A. Boehner was almost unseated by a conservative revolt.

By March, Roll Call noticed that a new power player was beginning to emerge in the House Republican Conference: Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma. Once a foe of Boehner’s, Cole would, over the next several months, cement himself as an unofficial spokesman for the speaker, fighting against what he saw as the recklessness of hard-line conservatives and “political immaturity.”

This was about the time Roll Call started its blog Goppers, which would later become 218. The blog began with a two-part interview with Boehner (Part I, where he beats back a question about retirement by saying, "I'm far from done," and Part II, where he says "the sequester is here to stay" unless there's a deal leading to a balanced budget).

In April, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., was forced to pull legislation from the floor that would strip funding from one program created by the 2010 health care law to shore up another: the high-risk insurance pools. Roll Call ran an analysis of what that “GOP revolt” really meant. The implosion turned out to be a harbinger of trouble to come.

In the summer, there was also a hullabaloo over the National Security Agency's blanket collection of phone metadata. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., leading a group of libertarian lawmakers, threatened to sink the rule for the Defense appropriations bill if they didn't get a vote on the NSA. They got their vote, but in the end, the NSA amendment was defeated.

While Republican approval ratings were in the tank following the shutdown, they quickly found a way to change the subject: Obamacare, and specifically, the disastrous Healthcare.gov rollout (though freshman Republican Trey Radel's cocaine bust did distract from the conversation).

The House did end, however, on a bit of a high note, passing a budget deal that seemed uncertain from the start. 218 broke down the budget vote, as well as the moments when Boehner blasted the outside conservative groups for opposing the deal (the first time and the second time).

We finished the year by analyzing what Heritage Action and Club for Growth did on the budget vote — more specifically, what they didn't do — and where these outside groups stand with leadership as we head into 2014.

And even though members of Congress are now allowed to wish their constituents "Merry Christmas" in franked mailings, we'll just leave it at, "See you next year."